Mechanical lead pencil



July 5, 1932. A. wOEL'M MECHANICAL LEAD PENCILl original Filedaarch 19. 1929 Lllll vwentoz Patented July 5 1932 UNITED s 'lukn-:sA

PATENT .OFFICE ALFRED wonLm, or am, annum, AssIeNon 'ro rnNcrL uncmrsm Conrona'rroN, or NEW Yoann. Y., A coaroaarron or New Yom:

' IEGHANICAL LEAD PENCIL Application med March 19, 1929, Serial No. 348,161, and in Germany Iay 3, 1928.` Renewed November -which it is intended, which is simple of construction and economical to manufacture, and which can be assembled and disassembled with extreme ease.

A more specific object is to provide improved means for uniting an exteriorly accessible actuating member with a gripperoperating member, whereby these parts may be readily separated. l

Another more speciic object is to provide improved means at the base of a pencil, whereby the seating of a gripper unit is facilitated.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The inventionaccordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope of the application ofwhich will be indicated' in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of thehn'ature and obj ects of the invention, reference Vshould be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinalsection of a pencilexemplifying the invention and Fig. 2 is a side elevation showingfthe lower mechanism and the magazine tube detached from one another -Fig 3 is a side view ofthe'mechanism The exemplified pencil'isiof the general type disclosed in my co-opending application, Serial No. 861,302, iled March 20, 1926,

new Patent NOA-1,762,318, June 1o, 1930,

and comprises an outer shell or. casing 1 having a frusta-conical lower end 2. Within the upper end of the casing thereis slidably mounted an lnner tube 3= serving to provide the walls of a lead magazine and carrying at its upper end a cap 4, whereby the inner tube ma be readily depressed. The operating mec anism comprises, in the present instance, a carrier or clutch ring 5, the bore 6 of which is formed to support and operate' a plurality of lingers forming a part of a gripping and feeding member 7, the lower portion 8 of which serves to provide a lead guide tube. The portion 8'1'its into a recess 9 in an anchor piece 10, which is 'held within the portion 2 of the casing by means of a tip portion 11, which is screwed into the anchor piece. Thus the anchor piece and the casing can be separated by unscrewing the tip. The upperportion of theanchor piece is widened at 12 and serves to provide a recessl 13 adapted toreceive the lower end of a helical -spring 14, the upper end of which is contained in a recess 15 in the ring 5. The widened portion 12 of the anchor piece 10 is also formed to hold in place a pair of arms 16 extending downwardly from a perforated bottom plate 17, which cooperates with the tube 3 to provide a magazine for reserve leads and which serves to pass the leads one by one to the operating mechanism.

With a view to uniting the magazine tube i with the gripper-operating member, so that longitudinal movement of the inner tube will be imparted to the gripper-operating member, and at the same time permitting these parts to be readily separated and put together when for any reason the pencil is disassembled, the present invention contemplates the provision of readily-detachable means for uniting the inner tube and the gripper-operating member. To this end the exemplified ring 5 is formed with a plurality of notches 18, and a plurality -o dependent resilient strips 19 are cut'from the sides of the tube 3 and bent inwardly at 20 so as to engage the notches 18. It will thus be seen that when assembling the pencil, the ring 5 can be readily slid upwardly in the tube 3 until its notches register with the inward projections 20, which, when the casing 1 is slid over the mechanism, will serve to join the ring securely to the inner tube. If at any time thereafter it is 'desirable to disassemble the pencil, so as to adjust or replace the parts thereof, for example, the inner tube and the cam ring can be readily disassembled, once the casing has been removed, either by pulling the strips 19 outwardly or by pulling the ring 5 downwardly.

In order to facilitate the insertion of the lower end 8 of the lead-gripping and -guiding member 7 into the recess 9, the anchor piece 10 is cutJ away adjacent the floor of the recess 13 so as to provide a widened entrance to the recess 9, the flared walls 21 ofwhich serve to guide the member 8 into position.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and diiferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specic features of the invention herein described, and allK statements of the scope of the invention, which as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. In a mechanical lead pencil, the combinatio'n of a casing, an inner tube mounted for longitudinal movement in the upper end of said casing, a longitudinally movable lead gripping unit within said casing, an operat- I ing member adapted to impart longitudinal movementv and lead gripping action to said lead gripping unit, and means detachably to secure said operating member to said inner tube, said means including an element carried by said inner tube. i

2. In a mechanical lead pencil, the combination of a casing, an inner tube mounted for longitudinal movement in the upper end of said casing, a longitudinally movable lead gripping unit within said casing, an operating member adapted to impart longitudinal movement and lead gripping action to said lead gripping unit, and means detachably to secure said operating member to said inner tube, said means including a plurality of metallic strips dependent from a portion of said inner tube.

3. In a mechanical lead pencil, the combination of a casing, an inner tube mounted for longitudinal movement in the upper end of said casing, a longitudinallv movable lead gripping unit within said casing, an operating member adapted to impart longitudinal movement and lead gripping action to said lead gripping unit, and means detachably to secure said operating member to said inner tube, said means including an integral resilient strip struck from said inner tube.

4, In a mechanical pencil, a casing, a longitudinally movable tube fitting within the upper portion ofthe casing, a longitudinally movable lead-gripping unit within the casmg a gripper-operating member, adapted to impart lead-gripping and feeding actions to said gripping unit and means to secure the tube to the gripper-operating member when said members are in the casing, said means nally movablewithin the upper part of said casing, a perforated bottom plate co-operating with said magazine tube to provide a lead magazine, means detachably to secure said bottom plate to said casing, a longitudinally movable lead-gripping unit disposed beneath said bottom plate, a gripper-operating member disposed beneath said plate and adapted to impart lead-gripping and -feeding actions to said gripping unit, and means detachably to secure said operating member to said magazine tube. f D

6. In a step-by-step leadpencil, the combination of a casing, longitudinally movable lead-gripping means within the casing, a gripper-operating member adapted to impart lead gripping and feeding action to the lead gripping means, a longitudinally movable exteriorly accessible actuating element, and means detachably to connect said- 'gripper-operating member with said exteriorly accessible actuating element.

7 In a step-by-step lead pencil, the combination of a casing, lead-gripping means, means including a longitudinally movable member to impart lead gripping and feeding action to the lead-gripping means, means including an element protruding from the top of the cas'ing for imparting longitudinal movement to the movement imparting means, and means independent of said gripping means detachably to connect said protruding element with said longitudinallyV movable member.

8. In a step-by-step lead pencil, the combinationY of a casing, a lead-grip ing and -guiding unit longitudinally mova le within said casing and comprising a plurali of outwardly spring-pressed jaws, a longitudinally movable clutch ring adapted to wedge said jaws into gripping en agement with the lead, an exteriorly accessi leelement adapted to impart-longitudinal movement to saidring, and means detachably to secure said ring to said exteriorly7 accessible element, said means comprising a resilient strip arranged normally to prevent movement between the 'secured v9. In a step-by-step pencil, the lcombination of'a casing, leadippin means longitudinally movable wit in sai casing, longitudinally movable operating means adapted to impart lead-gripping and -feeding action members but permitting separation thereof.

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to said lead-gripping means, a longitudinally movable magazine tube disposed within-the upper end of said casing and adapted to be moved longitudinally to impart longitudinal movement to said operating means, and means comprising a resilient strip carried by said tube detachably to secure said operating `member to said tube. v 10. In a step-by-step lead pencil, the combi nation of-fa casing, a longitudinally movable magazine tube Within the upper end of said cas1ng,-a longitudinally movable lead-gripping unit comprising a plurality of outwardly spring-pressed jaws, a clutch ring for imparting lead-gripping and -eeding action to said unit, and means independent of said gripping unit detachably to secure said ring to said magazine tube.

11. In a step-bytep lead pencil, the combination. of a casing, means providing a lead magazine in the upper part of the casing, said means comprising a lon tudinally movable tubular member, indepen ently movable leadgripping means beneath said magazine, means including a lon ltudinally movable member disposed beneat said magazine and adapted to impart lead-gripping and -feeding action to said gripping means, and means detachably to secure said movement imparting member to said tubular member.

12. In a step-by-step lead pencil, the combination of a casing, means providing-a lead magazine, said means comprising a longitudinally movable tubular member, independently movable lead-gripping means beneath said magazine, an element adapted to im, part lead-gripping and -feeding action tosaid gripping means, and means comprising a plurality of resilient strips cut from said tubulanmember for securing said movement im artin element to said tubular member.

n testimony whereof I aix my signature.

RED WOELM. 

